Lawmakers file bill resetting Barangay, SK polls to 2014

MANILA, Feb. 27 — Lawmakers on Monday moved to postpone the October 2013 scheduled Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) polls to 2014.

Eastern Samar Rep. Ben Evardone, author of House Bill 5794, said the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections should be held on the last Monday of May 2014 and every four years thereafter.

"Considering the vital role of the Barangay and SK officials in the government's endeavor to provide the people an improved quality of life, it is beyond cavil that the Barangay and SK elections must be insulated from partisan politics," he said.

Evardone said the non-partisan character of the Barangay and SK polls has been the turning point in the previous congressional debates on resetting the polls.

"I believe that the postponement of the 2013 Barangay and SK Elections is now a matter of necessity," he said.

On the other hand, Cebu City Rep. Rachel Marguerite del Mar has filed House Bill 5750 resetting the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan polls to the last Monday of October 2014.

The bill seeks to amend Republic Act No. 9340 otherwise known as "An Act Amending Republic Act No. 9164, Resetting the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections, and for other Purposes."

"It is a better situation to have one nationwide election in a year. Since there are two nationwide elections scheduled next year — the local and Congressional on the second Monday of May 2013 and the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan election on the last Monday of October 2013 — the latter should be reset to the following year on the last Monday of October 2014," Del Mar said.

She said holding the synchronized Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections simultaneously with the Local and congressional elections on the second Monday of May 2013 may not be advisable as there will be too many positions for the voters to fill out.

Likewise, Del Mar said the three-year term for which the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan officials were elected to serve will be shortened by five months.

Del Mar said resetting the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections to the last Monday of October 2014 will also extend the terms of the current Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan officials by two years.

"But resetting their elections to the last Monday of October 2014 as proposed will extend their terms to a more reasonable period of only a year. Thereafter, subsequent elections shall be held every three years," she said. (PNA)